"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." - Isaiah 9:6

“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” – Charles Dickens

It’s almost Christmas! I am wishing for you lots of time full of rest, time with your family and friends, moments of blessing and gratitude. Don’t forget that you can still get some gifts from our store! If you haven’t yet, make sure you are on the email list to be the first to know all about any of our upcoming sales! You can find all kinds of wonderful gifts for the women in your life, and maybe buy yourself a holiday treat as well. 

In this blog, I wanted to share with you some of my favorite Christmas traditions. Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday. The decorations, amazing food and cookies, lots of celebrations and downtime and of course, giving presents to people. We can make this holiday even more memorable by creating our own traditions. All it takes is some creativity and intentionality! Before you know it, this season will be overflowing with Christmas traditions. 

CHOOSING YOUR TRADITIONS

“Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas.” – Peg Bracken

The beautiful thing about traditions is that they are uniquely yours. You don’t have to keep any old traditions that you don’t like, you can try something once and decide it’s not for you, or you can find things that you will return to year after year. Tradition is just another way to build your life! To choose with intentionality how you will spend your days.

Cue the dad from Fiddler on the Roof… “Tradition! Tradition!”

I have noticed with my small kids that our family traditions are very important to them. Decorations, memories, activities, anything that makes a season or a day feel extra special. All these little things are building into their memory a sense of belonging, of family, of tradition. I love to see the joy that comes from doing something every year, and asking what they remember about doing it before. It creates a beautiful rhythm.

Which is why it’s so important for all of us to choose our traditions with care! When you choose your traditions, you should focus on things you love, activities that bring you joy, and anything that really matches your family’s style. For example, my husband, kids and I love watching movies together. So we make movies a part of our traditions. But you might prefer Christmas Markets. In other words, don’t choose a tradition just because you think you should, or because someone else loves. This can even apply to traditions that you used to love, but don’t fit your life anymore. Feel free to toss out what doesn’t work!

As we have built our own traditions, I found that I also like to give everything a “testing” phase. If I read of a tradition I really think would be good for my family, I tell them (and myself) we are just trying this. After trying it, we can decide if we actually want to keep it as a tradition or pass on it next year. Try keeping this same philosophy for yourself as we go through the list of traditions below. 

SOME OF MY FAVORITE TRADITIONS

“I like to compare the holiday season with the way a child listens to a favorite story. The pleasure is in the familiar way the story begins, the anticipation of familiar turns it takes, the familiar moments of suspense, and the familiar climax and ending.” – Fred Rogers

Each of the things in this list is a tradition that I really value! Look over it and find the ones that stick out to you. Some may work perfectly, while others won’t work. My hope is that each of these traditions may inspire you to find activities and rhythms that best fit your life!

• Reading Christmas Books! We have so many Christmas books that we have collected over the years. So we put them all in a basket by the couch. This means that we can read a couple every day through the month of December. 
• Special Christmas cookies. Every family seems to have their own favorite type of cookie! Chocolate Chip, Sugar, Dipped in Chocolate, Snickerdoodles. Whatever your favorite cookie is, set aside a whole afternoon to bake, enjoy and maybe even share your favorite cookies. 
• Crafts. My young kids really love doing holiday crafts! We keep it simple, because I’m not super crafty. So we cut shapes out of paper and tape them up around the house. For Christmas, it’s ornaments and snowflakes.
• Family Walk. I’m not someone who likes to run in the cold. However, I love a good walk in the cool crisp air (when there is sun!)! So during the month of December, we try to take walks whenever we can and when it’s warm enough.
• Board Games. This one does make me cringe. I am not at all someone who enjoys board games. However! I have read over and over about the importance of family game time. So I try really hard to enjoy game time with my kids.
• Special Moment for YOU! Every holiday, I try to find time to get up a little extra early. I grab my coffee, Bible and journal, and sometimes a good book. I’ll light a candle, and make my normal quiet time extra special.
• Movie Night. On weeks where we have some time off, my family loves a good family night! For Christmas, we love the classics. White Christmas, Muppet Christmas Carol, Santa Claus. Keep a list of your favorites so you can watch them again next year! 
• Family Adventure! Every week, my family tries to do at least one adventure. These range in difficulty, time, and cost. However, they all include a sense of doing something special. For Christmas, we love to go see lights at a zoo or drive around, go for a hot cocoa coffee shop visit, or even visit some local Christmas events. 

What are your traditions that you think I should add to this list?

REFLECTION

“Christmas Day is in our grasp, as long as we have hands to clasp! Christmas Day will always be, just as long, as we have we! Welcome Christmas while we stand, heart to heart, and hand in hand!” –Dr. Seuss

I truly love traditions! It is something that I am super intentional about within my own life and my family. I look forward to certain things every year. And being thoughtful about this Christmas season can make this holiday all the more rich and enjoyable. May your Christmas be truly blessed!

Questions for reflection:

To get the most out of these questions, grab a journal and write out your answers. Allow yourself to ponder and reflect!

• What are your current Christmas traditions? What do you like or dislike about them?
• Are there any traditions that don’t fit your life anymore? Any that you are ready to get rid of, or that you might want to return to later?
• What traditions would you like to “test”? When can you try them?
• What tradition from this blog post is one that you are really excited to try? 
• How are you going to build your own Christmas traditions this year?

"But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days." - Micah 5:2

"And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God." - Luke 1:35

“The earth has grown old with its burden of care, but at Christmas it always is young, the heart of the jewel burns lustrous and fair, and its soul full of music breaks the air, when the song of angels is sung.” – Phillips Brooks